Whispers in the Wind

"They will pay....they will all pay...."; "Wake up,.."; "You have to run.." - Those sentences kept haunting Taka in his dream ever since he was brought into the world. Taka considered himself an orphan since he knew nothing about his parents, why they left him, or even why he was born in this miserable world. However, he knew one thing for sure and that was the whispers in the wind every time he went to sleep. He had no idea why he was haunted and the meaning behind them.

"Taka? Taka, where are you boy?" - a lady from afar calls his name.

"Mother Lucy, I am here" - Taka quickly responds.

"It is now your bath time, come on and go take a shower. I will prepare dinner in the meantime." - Mother Lucy complains while patting his head.

Seeing how Taka is sweating the entire time while doing nothing, Lucy questions herself and then rushes to the kitchen to prepare food for the orphanage. Mother Lucy was the one who took care of Taka when he was left behind. If there is someone who he can completely trust then it is Mother Lucy. She is the world to him.

The orphanage is located in Titans, a place within Mensuria. Mensuria is a sub-continent extracted from X3. Most of Mensuria is now ruled under the Peace Order made by all the Elemental Guardians, so it is pretty much safe for most people. However, the crime rate in Titans is still on the rise as all nations are now increasing their taxes, imports, exports, etc. Those who can afford the prices live in another luxury area, while the ones who do not have the money started to do all kinds of dirty jobs just to get what they want.

"Mother Lucy. I am done now, let's eat!!!" - Taka sprinted to the kitchen like there is no tomorrow.

"Alright, alright. You will have your parts. Help me share the food with your brothers and sisters first, boy." - Mother Lucy answers.

The entire kitchen is filled with people, laughter, talks, and food. This is how a day in the orphan peacefully goes by. Evening comes, Taka goes out to take care of all the toys the kids threw away earlier. Out of nowhere, a group of people wearing strange armors and cloaks pass by. Notice something is not right, Taka suddenly goes back into the house and locks the door. He hopes that they will just keep on going and not bother the orphanage.

"Knock, knock!" .... "Knock, knock!" - Several banging sounds from the door appear.

"Open the door! This is the Titans army. If you do not open the door this instance, we go charge in and that will be considered as a crime against this Titans!" - a soldier yells out loudly from the outside.

Hearing the noise, Mother Lucy from upstairs goes down and tells Taka to get all the other kids back to their rooms as she is now the one who will deal with this situation, not him.

"Creak..." - The door slowly opens.

"Good evening officers, my name is Lucy. How may I help you?" - Mother Lucy nervously asks.

"This place needs to pay this year's tax plus the money that you borrowed last time for the food. We gave you an extended time, but so far we only received 50% of the payment. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" - The soldier angrily yells again.

"Please, Officer. I know that we have to pay you back, but can you please be understandable and give us a couple more days to work on it? As you know, ever since the tax got increased everyone is working twice as hard, but the price is still the same if not lower than before. I just need some more time then I will be able to pay you back in full" - Mother Lucy tries to persuade.

"NO MORE TIME, HOW MUCH MORE TIME WILL YOU LOWLIFE NEED? WE NEED TO EAT AND LIVE AS WELL!" - the soldier aggressively speaks.

"Hey, Ron.... Enough with that. Do you want the entire place to wake up?" - a man from the army speaks up.

"I am sorry Sir Modor as this woman did not know her place and kept on saying stupid ideas" - the soldier hurriedly responds.

Modor is one of the commanders of the Titans army. He is in charge of tax collection and reporting. Modor is viewed as one of the most ruthless commanders out there. If things do not go the way he wants then he will make sure that everyone involved will be severely hurt, or even died. Modor comes toward Mother Lucy. As he is getting closer, the pressure and energy emitting from him make her shrivels and fall to her knees. She is too now scared to properly stand up.

"You there. I will give you two options: either you give this place to us, or you pay the rest of the money by tomorrow morning. I will not look at other options so be careful of what you will say next." - Modor shows a smirk on his face as his eyes aim toward the children who are looking down from their rooms.

"ARE YOU CRAZY? How can I give up this place of mine when all of them are my precious kids? How can you give us something impossible to do? How can I get that much money this evening to give you tomorrow?" - Mother Lucy can no longer hide her anger.

"Sling!" - From the house, Taka hears a strange sound - a sound that he hears for the first time in his life, and it is not comfortable.

"MOTHERRRRR!!!" - Taka opens the doors, and he cannot believe what he sees right in front of his eyes: In the night, the sword of Modor shines brighter than the moon. However, blood is continuously dripping from the sword as he slowly cleans it.

"Oh, is this your mother? Here you go." - Modor tosses an object to Taka.

Tears start to fall on Taka's face as he is now holding Mother Lucy's head in his hand. The shock, the fear, and the anger all come straight to him at once. He cannot control his emotions and charges toward the entire army.

"WHY? WHAT DID WE DO TO DESERVE THIS?" - Taka yelled out.

"Stay away kid!" - a magician uses her energy to push him further away.

"Agh..." - With just one normal spell, Taka vomits blood and faints instantly.

"Get rid of that bastard. He is too old to be useful for us. We will get the rest of them if anyone resists. Kill them as well." - Modor orders the rest of the army.

"But Sir, if we kill the kids then...." - A soldier speaks up.

"Do not worry, we do not need them physically. All we need is their blood anyway if you know what I meant." - Modor scarily shows his smirk once again.

[....]

"Where..am..I? Huh? Why am I being tied up" - Taka slowly wakes up.

"Who gives you the right to speak at this moment?" - A magician glares at Taka as she uses her energy to hit him severely again.

Following Modor's orders, they bring Taka to a mountain cliff of Titans. After all, throwing a person away is away easier than killing and trying to cover the evidence. With both hands and feet being tied up, Taka can no longer run.

"Agh...Let go of me! I will kill all of you!" - Taka angrily yells out.

"Alright, guys. Throw him out. Good luck in the afterlife, unlucky one" - The magician orders.

Taka's life is now sealed. He cannot run, he cannot hide. All he can do to accept the fact that he is now being killed by a bunch of strangers who came to his place. As he falls down the cliffs, all the memories of the good times in the orphanage appear in his mind. Taka cannot help but shed tears once again.

"I am sorry, Mother. I am sorry brothers and sisters. I can no longer stay with you..." - Taka talks to himself.

"Splurt!!" - His body hits the ground the splash into several pieces. His blood mixes with the darkness and falls into the nothingness of Titans.

[....]

"They will...pay"; "They will all...have to pay"; "Please, run away..." - the strange whispers start to appear again.

"Do you want to live again? Do you want to walk a path that no one dares to walk before? If so, please accept this blood as live your life one more time" - A voice from the darkness talks to Taka's corpse as his soul is taken out of his body.

"Wait..What is this? Did I just die? Who are you?" - Taka, now in his soul, confused.

"Time will tell you all. Right now, you must make a choice or else even your soul will perish away in the night of Titans." - The voice continues.

Without a second thought, Taka drinks the unusual blood. A strong magical surge pulls him back to his body. All of his parts are now reconnected and regenerated. He gives out a big shout as the physical and mental pain is getting to him. Taka is now revived and getting ready for his second fight. He wastes no time to climb back up and hopes that he will reach the orphan in time before those bastards can get their hands on his family.

"Thank you, my savior. I will not forget this opportunity. I will pay you back one day for sure" - Taka looks back and bows his head for one last time to the mountain cliffs.

"...."

"Hope the Power to be with you till the end of the journey, young one...." - the voice whispers one last time and fades away with the winds.

Chapter 2 - End